Underwater sport and exploration craft heretofore have been provided but most of these underwater craft are reliant upon either manually or motor driven propulsion means. The operation of manually driven propulsion means is of course very tiring to a person using the underwater craft and the utilization of motor driven propulsion means conventionally incorporates an electric motor and thus requires heavy large capacity batteries if the underwater craft is to be used for other than very short distances.
In addition to powered underwater craft various forms of motorless underwater hydrodynamic gliders heretofore have been provided such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,157,145. However, vertical and horizontal direction of movement control of such underwater gliders has been at best marginal and unsuited for manned underwater usage. Accordingly, a need exists for an underwater glider which may be used for sport and recreational purposes with safety of the operator and precise horizontal and vertical directional control of the glider being achieved to a high degree.
Various forms of vehicles other than underwater gliders and which incorporate some of the general structural and operational features of the instant invention are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,223,616, 1,250,987, 2,849,978, 2,929,346, 3,082,975, and 3,943,869.